Bette Midler
The Divine Miss M. has made us laugh, cry and sing-a-long for over three decades. Bette Midler is over-the-top, dead-on, funny, and devastating - all at the same time. Raised in Hawaii, Midler moved to New York in the 1960s where she made the casting rounds until gaining the role of Tzeitel in the Broadway run of Fiddler on the Roof. In 1970 she developed a nightclub act at the Continental Baths - one of the meeting places for gay men in New York City. Her performances combined high camp with a talented voice and perfectly timed comedy. She moved on to other nightclubs with her accompanist, Barry Manilow and released the album The Divine Miss M in 1972. Midler’s acting talent was recognized in the 1979 film The Rose with an Academy Award nomination, and a series of movies during the 1980s such as Down and Out in Beverly Hills and Ruthless People cemented her comedic acting chops. Midler has won several Grammy Awards, and reunited with Manilow in 2003 to record from the songbooks of Rosemary Clooney and Peggy Lee. In 1995 Midler founded the New York Restoration Project, a non-profit dedicated to revitalizing derelict neighborhood parks throughout New York City. With Bette Midler’s continued involvement, NYRP maintains community gardens and develops environmental education programs for New York City students.
